


Shadow Memories

by Anonymous_Writer12



Category: High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kinda, M/M, Memories, Missions Gone Wrong, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Stalking, Tags May Change, because gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-20 21:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20682179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Writer12/pseuds/Anonymous_Writer12
Summary: Suddenly to his right a little girl and her father where showered in glowing golden leaves, the leaves flowing majestically around them and flying just out of reach as the girl tried to catch them. He looked past them, spotting a humanoid figure at the edges of the crowd, a wooden mask blocking their facial features, but the rest of them looking like another performer, their outfit over the top and covered in miniscule details. They seemed to be a lean but built figure, based on the pointed ears poking out from behind the mask an elf of some sort. Their stance was guarded but open at the same time, the look of someone who knew to be wary but hadn't truly experienced most of life's hardships.When the figure took off his mask was when Malark truly stopped to pay attention to him.





	Shadow Memories

Contrary to popular belief Malark did enjoy some fun every now and then, he just wasn't really allowed much of it in the assassin's guild. Thankfully that same guild had given him all the tools necessary to sneak out and have fun under their noses anyway.  
He slid out from the shadows and into the bright lights of the traveling circus that had come by their town, letting his eyes adjust a bit before wandering around to see what attractions this place had.  
It had your typical circus things, clowns, trapeze acts that were much less impressive when you yourself had done very similar moves in the streets, and magical acts of all sorts.  
He stood watching an act unfold before him, smiling at all the excited looks people of all ages in the audience where giving the performers. Suddenly to his right a little girl and her father where showered in glowing golden leaves, the leaves flowing majestically around them and flying just out of reach as the girl tried to catch them. He looked past them, spotting a humanoid figure at the edges of the crowd, a wooden mask blocking their facial features, but the rest of them looking like another performer, their outfit over the top and covered in miniscule details. They seemed to be a lean but built figure, based on the pointed ears poking out from behind the mask an elf of some sort. Their stance was guarded but open at the same time, the look of someone who knew to be wary but hadn't truly experienced most of life's hardships.  
When the figure took off his mask was when Malark truly stopped to pay attention to him.  
He was definitely a performer, either that or he was a man of eccentric taste, based on his raccoon like makeup. His features were soft, but his face pointed, a mop of brown hair now in full view, fell across his face as me moved the mask onto the side of his head and fixed his hair, it still looked like a mess after he deemed it neat enough.  
Malark tore his gaze away from the elf as he felt heat rise to his face, using his peripheral vision to see him walk in the opposite direction and enter one of the many tents in the circus.  
_Damn it he's cute. ___  
He mentally scolded himself for letting a complete stranger leave him like this as he walked to another act to his left, trying to keep the elf out of his thoughts for the rest of the night.  
***  
Of course the very next morning he got the order to kill the very elf he had seen the previous night.  
***  
He had been following the traveling circus for a while now, he'd learned a decent amount about his target while he tried his best to postpone the inevitable.  
While his name Malark had known beforehand, he learned how his friends called him Paddy, not Paddock. He had learned that Paddy was truly an elf with a heart of gold, while he pranked people he never did it out of malicious intent and just wanted to have a good laugh. And Malark had learned that the more he observed and followed Paddy and his friends the less he wanted to do what he had to.  
He was surprised one day, they were passing by Paddy's hometown, or, what remained of it anyway. But Paddy was saying goodbye to his friends and began heading towards the ruins of his home.  
Does he not know what happened?  
Malark realized with a shudder that he really hadn't heard the news of what had happened to his home. He thought of maybe warning Paddy, but how would he explain how he knew? How would he explain how he'd been following the elf since that night at the festival?  
His concerns came to a halt as he's heard Paddy take a sharp breath, they had reached the edge of the destruction, burned forest surrounded them. He stayed crouched behind any cover that remained as the wood elf began walking quicker. As they walked through the destroyed town Paddy kept going faster, muttering under his breath, never had Malark wished he could understand elvish, all he could understand was 'no' over and over again.  
Paddy was almost sprinting by the time they reached what Malark assumed was the center of the town, coming to a screeching halt in front of what was left of a house, what was left being just the door.  
"No, no no no!" Paddy exclaimed, rushing up to the door, his hand coming up to the door before yanking it back, his hand then tracing his family emblem underneath the scorch marks of the perpetrators. "No." Paddy's voice broke, tears flowing over as he leaned against the door, sobs shaking his body. Malark sat frozen behind some rubble, his heart breaking for the elf sat before him, not knowing what to do other than sit there and watch the elf's world shatter before him.  
***  
Malark remembered following Paddy for a little while longer, making sure the elf wasn't going to do anything he'd regret, before going back to the assassin's guild to 'explain' his failure and to beg for a second chance.  
And after being granted that second chance, being assigned the same mission he had failed, and coming to join High Hopes. The rest faded into history.  
As these memories flashed through his mind others came with them. The time he'd scared Paddy so bad the other rouge fell into a stream. The time when Paddy had returned the favor by adding some spice to Malark's food and almost burning his mouth. And how Paddy had refused to let Malark sacrifice himself to the assassin's guild, and how that'd almost gotten Paddy killed.  
Malark snapped back to the present, and returned his attention to keeping watch over his sleeping teammates, paying special attention to let a certain wood elf get his beauty sleep.


End file.
